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The Geriatric Depression Scale, Short Form (GDS-15) is a widely-used depression rating scale for elderly adults. It might be useful for persons across the adult lifespan, but more research is needed to support its clinical utility with young and middle-aged adults.

We examined the classification accuracy of the GDS-15 in identifying depression cases and non-cases in adults aged 18–54 (n = 199) compared to those aged 55-80 (n = 112), using the standard cutoff score of 5. Criterion-related validity of the GDS-15 was examined based on its chance-corrected agreement with a clinical diagnostic interview.

Classification accuracy based on receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis was strong in younger (area under the curve; AUC = 0.92) and older adults (AUC = 0.94). Sensitivity and specificity of the GDS-15 for identifying depression were 72% and 97% for younger adults and …